1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fuel container for engine bicycles that is directly formed from the bicycle frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With growing popularity of recreational activities, the bicycle that was a major transportation means in the past has become fashionable again. These days many people view the bicycle as a symbol of recreation. As there are many different types of recreational activities, the bicycle also has different designs to satisfy different users, such as the regular type for the general public, and the vigorous type for crossing rugged terrain.
While the bicycle can be used in all sorts of recreational sites, people power it, and people will feel fatigue from time to time. To have an alternative driving power would be desirable. Hence some vendors have introduced an external power asides from the traditional driving power for bicycle, such as electric driven bicycle and engine bicycle. Refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 for conventional engine bicycles. The bicycles 5 and 6 have an engine 3 mounting on the rear wheel as the driving source. As the bicycles 5 and 6 are originally designed with no other power source, the fuel tank for supplying fuel to the engine is mounted or hung in an added-on manner. Such as mounting a fuel tank 7 which looks like the one used on motorcycles on the bicycle frame 52 between the headset 50 and the seat 51 (referring to FIG. 1), or hanging and fastening a fuel tank 8 to a lower end of a passenger seat 60 (referring to FIG. 2). These two types are the commonly used arrangements for the fuel tank of the engine bicycles at present.
While the aforesaid fuel tank designs and mounting methods can provide fuel to drive the engine bicycle, by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the balanced factor for the bicycle is impaired. As the original structural design for the bicycle has included the consideration of weight balance at the front side and the rear side. In order to reduce weight and improve maneuverability, some bicycle frames even are made from aluminum alloy. With the fuel tank for other vehicles directly attached to the frame, the balance is destroyed. This is especially true when the fuel tank is not full and shaking occurs. In addition, the engine bicycle has acceleration effect which could make maneuvering of the bicycle difficult and result in risky situations. Moreover, attaching the fuel tank externally has to consider stability and concern of damage to the frame. While the external fuel tank could cause safety concern to the frame, it also impairs the aesthetic appearance and cannot achieve the appealing of integrated design. All these problems remained to be overcome.